Our 10 night trip to Croatia
Croatia is a relatively small and narrow stretched country which makes it really simple to plan your route. After some research, we found the following places of interest:
a) Plitvice Lakes National Park – A UNESCO World Heritage site which is known for a chain of 16 terraced lakes, joined by waterfalls that extend into a limestone canyon.
b) Hvar – An island off the main land near Split, which has really nice beaches and island life.
c) Korcula – A small island which has stunning beaches and beautiful quaint towns.
d) Dubrovnik – This ancient “Old Town” is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The Travel Plan:
June 2014:
We wanted a holistic experience of Croatia so we chose a route that encompassed all of the country’s bests – the best national park, the best islands/beaches and the best historical town! This was one of the greatest trips we have ever done, we were considering immigrating to Croatia we loved it so much! If we had had more time we would have included the Krka National Park and one or two more islands.
We took a late flight from Paris, France to the main airport at Zadar on RyanAir, arriving at around 10pm. We hired a car from the airport and drove to a nearby guesthouse for a quick overnight stop as we were leaving for Plitvice Lakes early the next morning. The drive to Plitvice Lakes took us about 2 and a half hours (120km). After staying near Plitvice Lakes for 2 nights we left in our hired car to Split. We dropped the car off at Split Airport and caught a 30 minute local bus to Split main town in order to catch a ferry to the island, Hvar. After our stay in Hvar we took a quick ferry to Korcula and stayed on the island for one night. We then bought a ticket to Dubrovnik which included a quick ferry and then bus ride. It was a very scenic bus drive all along the coast (sort’ve wished we had self driven this route so we could’ve stopped at all the amazing view points).
Our Itinerary:
ZADAR
A) Pansion Matanovi Dvori (1 night)
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Drive: Zadar to Plitvice Lakes (2 and half hours, 120km)
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PLITVICE LAKES
B) Turist Grabovac (2 nights)
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Drive: Plitvice Lakes to Split
Ferry: Split to Hvar on Jadrolinija
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HVAR Island
D) Pinna Apartments (3 nights)
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Ferry: Hvar to Korcula on Jadrolinija
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KORCULA Island
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E) Guesthouse Franica (1 night)
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Ferry & Bus: Korcula to Dubrovnik on Jadrolinija
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DUBROVNIK
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F) Major Departments – (3 nights)
Croatia Travel Tips
Money:
There are ATM’s across Croatia where you can withdraw the local currency, Kuna. Kuna can be used across the whole country on land. However, on the islands we found they mostly accepted Euros (as this is very touristy and filled with cruises and yachts coming from all over). The islands are also much more expensive as they attract quite a high end yacht vibe. On land, the prices are much cheaper and not too different from the South African Rand. We suggest you take Euros with if you are planning to stay on the islands and sail around.
Driving in Croatia
In South Africa you drive on the left hand side of the road, so it took us awhile and one man’s side mirror to get used to driving on the right. However, after a couple of hours and going around circles the opposite way, you do get used to it. It is advisable to rent a GPS at the car hire kiosk, as the road signs can be tricky to read if you don’t understand the local language. It is a great country to hire a car and self drive!
Weather
July is the hottest month in Dubrovnik with an average temperature of 22°C and the coldest is January at 4°C. The wettest month is November. The best month to swim in the sea is in August when the average sea temperature hits 25°C. We really advice travelling to Croatia in Summer as its definitely an outdoors beach/nature destination.
Fun hashtags to search and use for a trip to Croatia:
#Croatiafulloflife #croatia_photography #lovecroatia #croatiafullofnature #visitcroatia
